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I had been looking forward for a while to be able to test the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7. The camera was supposed to arrive on a Friday, it came, it went, the Friday that is, and there was no camera. Days later I am calling around trying to find out where the camera is. After a few attempts over a few days I am able to find out where it has been, and more importantly, where it is now. I make an appointment that I am coming to pick it up, I don’t want them to try again to find my house and not call me when getting lost.

Not much time yet to test the camera. I brought it to a birthday party Andrea my two year old was invited to. I figured I could try out some of the more difficult things for a camera. Various lighting conditions, not enough light etc. The image below was shot at ISO 800, F2.8 @ 1/60s. I added a little fill flash. Andrea is enjoying a marsipan “present” from the birthday cake.

I like this picture. It’s a snapshot for sure, the lighting conditions are far from ideal, but there is no noise, it is quite sharp etc. I like it.

Yesterday I was told that I would be allowed to take part in a consumer test of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7. This is the latest Micro Four Thirds camera to come out of Panasonic, and it looks like a winner. That is indeed the first thing that strikes me about the camera, it looks really cool. Very retro. Very Leica-like. A perfect street-shooter actually.

My primary cameras today are two Canons. I have a Canon 6D and a Canon 5D mk II with assorted L-class optics. This setup is great and I love it. The L-glass is unbeatable when it comes to sharp, colorful images, and the large full-frame sensor makes for noise-free images under almost any lighting conditions from bright daylight to pitch black night. As I said, I love it. That is, when I am not carrying it around. My primary lens for the Canons alone is quite a bit heavier, and also bigger than the Panasonic GX7. Yes, the lens alone is bigger and heavier than the Panasonic camera with a lens.

Testing the Panasonic there is really only one question I’d want answered. Can the Panasonic replace my Canons forany portion of my photography? Will I be happy traveling with the Panasonic alone or will I yearn for my full-frame cameras? The GX7 will have some clear advantages for street photography, it is going to be completely silent, it is much smaller so it will be less conspiquous. The tilting screen and the tiltable EVF will allow shooting from angles not possible with a DSLR, for example shooting from hip-level. Having a much smaller sensor, it is clear to me that the GX7 is not going to match the Canons for low-light situations, but will it be good enough for other shooting situations? Also, the DSLRs are basically useless for video. The GX7 is much better suited for that. I would like to shoot a lot more video of Andrea my two year old, will the GX7 enable this?